August 2006 Update

Enhancing the Capacity of Public Health Nursing through Partnerships:
ASTDN, CDC and Partners’ Cooperative Agreement

The Steering Committee recently welcomed two new members, Shirley Orr, President-elect ASTDN, and Pam Kulbok, who will represent ACHNE. The Committee would like to acknowledge the significant contributions of two members of the original Steering Committee who recently retired, Prue Albright from Delaware and Patsy McCall from Tennessee.

The Steering Committee and other partners met with officials from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta on July 18th, 2006 to discuss the capacity of public health nursing in the United States. The Centers that participated in that meeting included representatives from the

• Coordinating Center for Health Information and Service (CoCHIS)
• Coordinating Office for Terrorism and Emergency Preparedness (COTPER)
• Coordinating Center for Infectious Disease (CCID)
• National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STDs, and Tuberculosis Prevention (NCHHSTP)
• Coordinating Center for Infectious Disease (CCID)
• National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID)
• Coordinating Center for Infectious Disease (CCID)
• National Center for Immunization and Viral Respiratory Diseases (NCIVRD)
• Office of Chief of Public Health Practice (OCPHP)
• Office of Workforce and Career Development (OWCD)

This was the first time that public health nursing has been the focus of a CDC “Leadership Visit”. The meeting began a dialogue between ASTDN and CDC leaders about the strategic connections between ASTDN priorities and CDC goals that will continue in a second visit in late fall.

In addition to the Steering Committee, attendees included

• Rear Admiral (RADM) Carol A. Romano, Chief Nurse Officer, Public Health Service (PHS), Office of the Surgeon General
• Frances Sadden, BSN, MA, Director Siouxland District Health Department, Sioux City, IA
• Mary Ann Cooney, RN, MS, Director, Division of Public Health Services, New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services

This meeting was highlighted the critical value of adequate public health nursing capacity and illustrated the contribution of public health nurses to achieving CDC goals. After each CDC Center spoke about its Center, Steering Committee Chair Joy Reed presented a brief overview of ASTDN and public health nursing. The meeting concluded with President Karen O’Brien identified potential strategies that CDC could consider to enhance public health nursing.

• Linda Olson Keller, Project Director, presented an overview of “Enhancing the Capacity of Public Health Nursing through Partnerships the Cooperative Agreement” at ACHNE’s Annual Meeting on June 1 st in Pasadena California. Several ACHNE members expressed interest in participating in the project.
• Linda Olson Keller, Karen O’Brien, Joy Reed and Pat Drehobl submitted an abstract on the project for the American Public Health Association. The abstract was accepted and will be presented on Tuesday, November 7 at the Annual Public Health Association meeting in Boston.
• The “template” of state public health nursing leader functions is almost completed. It is currently under review by several current and retired state public health nursing directors. Please contact Linda if you are interested in reviewing this document.

If you have any questions or concerns about the project, please contact:

Linda Olson Keller, Project Director

School of Nursing, University of Minnesota
5-160 Weaver-Densford Hall
308 Harvard Street, S.E.
Minneapolis, MN 55455-0342

612-626-5144 (phone)
612-626-2359 (fax)

olson173@umn.edu